We worked with Susan and everything was perfect. Custom Vietnam Travel arranged a tailored 2 week vacation for us. Their communication before we arrived was outstanding and we paid half up front and the other half the first day of the tour. Our vacation included two days in the city with a private guide (Tuan), and then a tour with Tuan and a driver, all throughout Northern Vietnam. Everything went smoothly and we had an amazing time. No way we could have done it on our own so don't bother as it is worth the extra money! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I've known the owner/director of Custom Vietnam Travel, Mr Phuong (Smiley) and Ms Phuong, for ten years. Smiley was guide for our group tours and he was impressive then, with his exceptional knowledge, friendliness and professionalism. That has not changed as he has brought these attributes to a very successful travel business. Custom Vietnam Travel is just what it says "custom" where the client is the number one priority. Staff are also exceptional, particularly Ms Minh, who I have known also for many years. Tours are tailored to the clients budget and needs and you are personally helped each step of the planning and implementation of your tour. Email responses are timely and focussed with that extra advice and tips that help to make a successful tour. Phuong has arranged a number of tours for us, the latest being a day trip to Ninh Binh in November with a group of Vietnamese friends. It was a great day, with one of the best guides of any tour, Mr Thang (Thomas) , whose, humour, knowledge of Vietnamese history, culture and politics enthralled us throughout the day. I cannot rate Custom Vietnam Tours highly enough. I have dealt with many tour companies and they have all been good, however, for Vietnam Phuong and his crew are first class.

CT delivered everything it promised: Clean, roomy vans; Knowledgeable guides; always on time; good local knowledge; helpful with translation. The pre-tour communication was challenging because of the time difference. Emails did not get returned immediately. They charge a 3% fee for using credit card for deposit so I wired the money. But it had to go to a named individual which was weird. Advice: Do not get a meal package in advance. They are pre-ordered dinners which were not exceptional. Instead ask the guides or the hotels. Those meals were superior by far. Another quirk: The drivers must stop at tourist shopping places which extends the driving times. Hanoi to Halong Bay took three hours instead of two because they meandered through the local road to stop for shopping. The hotels booked were exceptional. But in Hanoi I booked my own - an excellent boutique hotel La Siesta Central in the heart of Old Quarter instead of Metropole which was three times more ... La Residence in Hue was top notch as was La Siesta in Hoi An ... I would use this service again but negotiate some of these points ...

Having using Custom Vietnam Travel during our first trip to Vietnam, there was no doubt we would be booking through them again. Our trip involved two separate tours: one in and around Sa Pa and the other as part of transit between Hue and Hoi An. Both of our guides--Thanh for Sa Pa and Yim between Hue and Hoi An--were of the utmost quality and exactly the type of people you with whom you would enjoy spending the day or days. Our travel was always extremely comfortable in a large SUV with bottled water provided throughout, and our drivers were always on-time and drove expertly. Our stay in Sa Pa itself was at the lovely boutique Sa Pa Dragon hotel that boasted lovely rooms, excellent service, majestic views of the mountains, and a wonderful buffet breakfast. Our second night in the area was 11km into the hills outside Sa Pa at the Homestay Lotus Hoang. The family was very inviting and made us a delicious dinner and breakfast. Our first day in Sa Pa involved us traveling to Sun World: Fansipan Legend to take a cable car to the highest point in Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam), a summit of more than 10,000 ft with views that were absolutely staggering. The Buddhist temples and grounds in general of the location were also well worth investigating. We then spent the second day trekking through the mountains and terraced rice fields outside Sa Pa. Despite the short length of the trek, the steep inclines and descents of the mountain paths make for quite a challenging hike. We met local people from the hill tribes along the way who were very pleasant and talkative, and we were able to buy their locally made needlework. Day three involved an even shorter trek in the mountains before leaving to return to Hanoi, but this was an even more challenging hike given the monsoon rains that were just beginning--two months later than usual, we were told! If you just go slow, use your walking stick, and listen to your guide's advice, you will be rewarded with unending spectacular views and an appreciation of a way of life unlike anywhere else in the world. I could not recommend more touring this region in this manner to those up to the challenge of a good hike. The highest praise! Our second tour with Custom Vietnam Travel involved transit from Hue to Hoi An a few days later in our trip. We were scheduled to view Hy Van Pass, but due to the monsoon the road was impassable on account of mudslides. Our first stop with our wonderful guide Yim was in Sun World: Ba Na Hills, home of the famous Golden Bridge, which has to be seen to be believed. Though the weather was heavy with rain and wind, it was still a beautiful and exhilarating experience to take the cable car high up into the mountains and walk the Golden Bridge. We then had a fabulous buffet lunch on-site before touring more of the historic French colonial grounds of the area. We then traveled to the My Son Sanctuary to visit the ruins of Hindu temples some of which date back to the 4th century AD. Much of My Son has been destroyed completely or partially by American bombing during the Vietnam war, but it was a beautiful and haunting experience nonetheless.

We visited Vietnam and Cambodia, traveling from north to south and ending in Phnom Penh. Custom Vietnam handled all our bookings, guides, drivers, and internal air travel for a very reasonable cost. They proposed locations and tour itineraries, some of which we accepted and some that we asked to change. They were always professional, courteous and knowledgeable. Although our international flight was changed shortly before departure, they easily accommodated our needs and we were never without a greeter to escort us to our next destination. Highly recommend! Will use again.

My friend and I just returned from a 4D tour to Halong Bay and Ninh Binh which was kindly organised by Rosie. We had a change of itinerary several times as we tried to squeeze in several attractions into four days and she kindly accommodated to our needs and arranged great accomodation for us throughout the four days. Our guide, Mr. Thanhn was attentive, knowledgeable and a great guide. He shared many stories about ancient Vietnam history when we were visiting Hoa Lu ancient capital and more. Overall, it was a great experience and service! We enjoyed our trip :)

Julie, our travel agent from Custom Vietnam Travel organised such a wonderful and colorful itinerary for our short 5-day stay in Vietnam. We have enjoyed every minute and we will definitely come back for a longer stay. Not only did she came to meet us and greet us but she also called us to make sure that everything is going smoothly. We managed to discover Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay through treks, rides, an overnight boat trip and plenty of other activities! The cruise was such a great discovery and the scenery breathtaking and so peaceful. Mr. Hung was an absolute wonderful guide with such a great knowledge of Vietnam and history, we learnt so much! I would definitely recommend them for your travel to Vietnam!

Our overnight home stay in the Bac Son Valley was fantastic. As well as getting an experience and adventure it was all done with a minimum of fuss. Our guide, driver and hosts were all great. If you are going to Vietnam put this tour on your list and get out into the country well away from the tourist hot spots. Prior to leaving we had a few reservations about going to a village in the country and spending a night like the locals and asked a few questions, but a couple of emails that were promptly responded to set things on course. Definitely recommend this tour with this company, they are prompt, professional and have a bit of a wicked sense of humour. It really is a great tour and there is only one way to find out for yourself.

We arranged a 13-day tour from Hanoi into the hills near the Chinese border, and it exceeded our expectations. The hill tribe women in their hand-embroidered costumes were friendly, the local food was unusual and delicious -- our guide made sure it was safe -- and the markets and scenery were spectacular. Our guide Hung speaks good English and knows a lot about the area. He was friendly and flexible to arrange whatever we wanted to see. And we had complete confidence in the safety of our driver, with a 4WD on mountain roads. Highly recommended

My wife and I are seasoned world travelers. This was our first trip to Vietnam. We did a great deal of research, watched scores of YouTube videos, read travel blogs and researched places and tour companies that got the best reviews on. We had never hired a guide or tour company before, so this was the unknown. We decided on Hanoi as the central location, researched the various four to five day excursions from there. We contacted several companies that offered slight variations of the two trips we decided on. All were prompt and professional, but Lilliana from Custom Vietnam Travel won our trust over the number of days it took to evaluate the prospective companies. The care she took in gathering specific information about us, about our somewhat unique perspectives and independent travel habits were key in our decision to award her company both guided trips. Her selection of the guides who accompanied us each of the two trips was perfect. Both were very attuned to the fact that we were not "Guided tour" people and both were very flexible and even eager to go "off script" in taking us to places less traveled. We were as so interested in the sights as we were in the culture and beautiful people of Vietnam. We were aware that this was a tall order for both the company and our guides, Phoung Tran and Huyhung Nguyen as it was far more esoteric than just hitting the tried and true places of interest. They both brought us to places where we had meaningful interactions with regular folks. Along with our gracious and generous driver Quang Nguyen and the beautiful Liliana (Phạm Liền), the decision to take these guided tours and the experiences we had as a result far exceeded our wildest expectations and resulted in us making several new and dear friends from Vietnam.